Official news related to Cataclysm

[chaos5061]

From Blizzard:
Due to recalibrating expertise for Cataclysm, level 80-83 creatures (which includes bosses) dodge and parry less, so you need less expertise, 23, to be exact. Sorry we didn't announce this. I would classify it as an unintended consequence (though not unknown) and not a desired change on our part.

At level 85, you will need 26 again.

[chaos5061]

For Tanks

For Tanks from Blizzard:
The new warrior Mastery is 1.5% block and 1.5% critical block per point of mastery.
Shield Block will spill over into critical block if any portion of the 25% would have been wasted because your block + dodge + parry is so high already. If you are somehow always over 100% (which will be pretty hard now), you only get the critical block when Shield Block is up. The intent is to make sure Shield Block isn't wasted, not to make sure you have mastery coming out your ears (or any other orifice in the facial region).
Shield Block is not intended to be a magic damage cooldown (neither is Blood Shield, which also is physical damage only). We don’t want to duplicate the exact same ability on every tank when we can avoid it. Bosses generally don’t spam out a lot of magic damage on short cooldowns. On the other hand, Shield Block has a much higher up-time than Barkskin. We still believe the Cataclysm raiding environment is going to be a lot less centered around tanks dying to spike damage than players currently experience at level 80. Mitigating a lot of damage to save healer mana can be very valuable in Cataclysm.
Savage Defense is massively overpowered on beta and has been dealt with accordingly. Many of the reports of beta raid bosses two-shotting tanks were because that was how much damage the bosses needed to do in order to challenge Feral tanks. With less damage absorbed, the boss damage can be adjusted downwards. We've reduced the multiplier for attack power on the absorption effect (from 65% to 35%, still modified by mastery) and it no longer procs from periodic critical hits.
Paladin tanks are not intended to go cap block as fast as they can. It’s fine if you want to do that, but we don’t treat it as “the new defense cap” and we don’t balance paladins assuming they have a 100% block chance. That is something the community identified as being not only possible, but likely, and one of the reasons we changed the way block works for paladins.
These changes are all slated for patch 4.0.3a when the shattering of Azeroth takes place, and are not currently implemented on live realms. Some of them may be active in the beta test – the Savage Defense change for example was applied via a hotfix to the beta realms recently.

[chaos5061]

Just to let people know there is a new PTR of patch 4.0.3 up. But nothing has changed yet. There is no word yet if you can play the new races yet or if the new class combos will be playable. I will update as I find out more.

[chaos5061]

Here's more info on the PTR 4.0.3 patch from a blizzard poster in the forums:
There are a few changes, but the majority of the patch 4.0.3 content is "under the hood," so to speak. There will be a number of bug fixes going in, though some of them will not be active until 4.0.3a either due to the way production on these two patches is being handled. It's somewhat of a unique patching process for us in World of Warcraft's history, so we'll do our best to clarify what is changing and when.

[chaos5061]

Nothing official from a blue post yet but a lot of people expect on the PTR forums that pretty soon the PTR will update to 4.0.3a. That means no worgen no goblin no flying in old world no 80-85 levels and no archeology. But that does mean the world has shattered, new quests, new starting zones for gnomes and trolls, and other things that you don't need to buy cata for.

[chaos5061]

Here it is a blue post that said the PTR will update to 4.0.3a. Still no patch notes for it. But I figure it will be what I said it would be in the post before this.From Blizzard:
The test realms are currently loaded with 4.0.3 data. Most of the content that will be implemented with this patch will not be activated upon its release. That will come shortly after with patch 4.0.3a, which we are likely to deploy at some point during the 4.0.3 PTR phase.

[chaos5061]

Here is a blue post from blizzard on a time line for cataclysm it will also contain things for the pre-cata quests:
With patch 4.0.1 now live and the official World of Warcraft: Cataclysm cinematic trailer released at http://YouTube.com/Warcraft, it's time for you to find out just what's in store in the weeks leading up to Cataclysm's launch on December 7.

Elemental Unrest

As earthquakes rumble and the very foundation of Azeroth becomes increasingly unstable, key members of the Horde and Alliance have begun to assemble in Orgrimmar and Stormwind to investigate the cause of these disturbances. Unconstrained elementals are terrorizing Azeroth's inhabitants, and it's become clear that a malevolent presence is threatening to tear apart the land. Suspicious strangers have taken to the Horde and Alliance capitals to offer the frightened citizens an explanation for the recent phenomena. Pro-tip: it's all doom and gloom.

The events leading up to Cataclysm are underway, and the disturbances will only become more severe as the weeks pass. Pay close attention to your faction leaders, Thrall and Varian, and be on the lookout for unfamiliar faces gathering on the city streets. This one-time-only series of events features all-new quests and multiple stages of dire happenings, so stay vigilant!

Patch 4.0.3

This patch will contain the final preparations for the Cataclysm launch, including the new login screen and official cinematic. The Shattering of Azeroth will take place sometime after patch 4.0.3.

The Shattering

Shortly before December 7, Azeroth will change forever. Deathwing will emerge from the Elemental Plane, bringing about the Shattering of the world and burning anyone and anything in his path. The events leading up to the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will reach their culmination, and Azeroth’s citizens will face the devastation they feared all along.

[chaos5061]

This is for the digital and ordering the regular and collecter's edtion from a store

Ok now this post may make people a little uneasy. But I guarantee that it is a 100% ok to do this. I will post blizzard's blue post about this and a link to the blue post also so people can see for themselves that this is ok. I have done this myself and have played the game since then and nothing has happened to me. I did this on Oct. 29 2010 when I found out about this on wow.joystiq.com which is the wowinsider web address. I have logged in many times since I have done this and have had no problems with blizzard or the game. I waited till now to post this to make sure that nothing will happen to your account. I have just contacted Zygor to see if it was ok to post this. And he has given me the go ahead to post this. If you have any questions before you do this. Post them here and I will try to help as best I can. Here's the post this post is copied directly from the wowinsider article:

NOTE: Blizzard has approved use of this method. It is not against the ToS, EULA, or any other acronym.

Pre-orders for the Cataclysm digital upgrade are officially open, and you can start downloading the remainder of the expansion's data the moment your purchase goes through. But what if you're awaiting a Collector's Edition or you don't have the money to upgrade online right now? You don't want to be left waiting for Cataclysm to download and install on launch night.

Thankfully, we've got you covered. There's an easy way to preload all the data you'll need to play Cataclysm the moment it goes live on midnight Dec. 7. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Make sure World of Warcraft and/or the launcher and background downloader are completely closed.
2. Open up your World of Warcraft folder.
3. Open Launcher.wtf in Notepad and change the "accountType" line from LK to CT.
4. Open Config.wtf in Notepad and change the "accountType" line from LK to CT.

Now load up the launcher and you should begin downloading 700 megs or so of new material. That's the last bit of data you need to play on launch night. Enjoy!

Remember: This will only give you the necessary files to play Cataclysm. It will not upgrade your account and you will not be able to access Cataclysm features. You still need to buy the game if you want to play on launch day.

Ok now you will want to read the forum up to about page 2 to get the full story that this is ok to do. Here's the blue post about this and the link to the blue post:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...92&pageNo=1#15

We're not seeing anything wrong with the page at this time. If you want to start streaming the files, go to your World of Warcraft\WTF\config.wtf file and find this line:

SET accounttype

Change the stuff inside the quote to CT, then save the file. Start the Launcher and it'll start streaming the file. You can try buying again at a later time or just grab it from the store on launch day.


I just like playing with cvars and experimenting. You could also do the same thing if you got a friend to log onto a pre-ordered account on your computer - the game client puts the accountType cvar there and tags it as a Cataclysm enabled account. Nothing stops you from doing it and it gets "reset" when you log back in. Wrath accounts get the Wrath tag, Burning Crusade gets the Burning Crusade tag, etc.

[chaos5061]

For Druids with Rebirth and Warlocks with Soulstone

From Blizzard:
The design for combat resurrection effects has changed a good deal for Cataclysm, and we want to make sure players are clear on how spells like Rebirth and Create Soulstone now function. Rebirth has a 10-minute cooldown and Create Soulstone has a 15-minute cooldown. On raid boss encounters, you can only use one of these combat resurrection spells (so one Rebirth or one Soulstone) per attempt for 10-player raids. For 25-player raids you can use three forms of combat resurrection per raid boss attempt (so three of any combination of Rebirth and Soulstone). The count is incremented as soon as a player accepts a resurrection, so one can always choose not to accept if he or she wants someone else to get the resurrection instead. There is no equivalent of the Sated debuff (which tracks Bloodlust/Heroism usage), but you will get an error message if you try to resurrect too many players, and we might add tracking to our raid interface if there is demand for it. Outside of raid content, you can use as many battle resurrections as you have available.

For those of you currently participating in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta test, please note that this functionality may not be fully implemented as of yet. If you notice combat resurrections are not currently functioning as explained here, this is just a heads-up about the updated design intent behind them.

[chaos5061]

Rated Battlegrounds

From Blizzard:
Judging from the posts on the forum, it looked like most players were confused about what rated battlegrounds really are and how to interact with them. Hopefully this FAQ can help clear up some of those questions. Feel free to respond with any other questions you might have and we will do our best to post up the answers in this thread.

* Rated Battlegrounds are broken down into three brackets. 10v10, 15v15 and 25v25. These brackets rotate weekly and can be viewed in-game via the calendar by activating the battleground holiday filter.

* Players must create a raid with the full number of players required for the current bracket before entering the queue. Any level 85 player of your faction may participate in the battle (regardless of guild association).

* When players win a battle, they are rewarded conquest points, up to their weekly cap. Weekly caps are individual for each player and are based on your highest single pvp rating from the previous week (the cap resets on Tuesdays). This rating can be derived from your 2v2, 3v3, 5v5 arena, or your rated battleground rating.

* Players start at zero rated battleground rating and progress upward from there. Rating is only reduced after a lost battle when the player is above their internal matchmaking rating. For the most part, a rating only goes up.

* Epic ground mounts will be rewarded at the end of each season to the top 0.5% of players. Titles are also available as you gain rating in the system. The titles are rewarded directly from achievements earned from gaining the required rating.

* Winning a rated battleground with a team composed of 80% guild members will result in the additional benefit of guild experience gain for your guild. The UI will display a guild banner near the minimap that lets you know if you are eligible for guild achievements and experience.

[chaos5061]

Guards Level 90

Found this on the wowinsider website. Nothing official from blizzard and I don't know if there will be. It may just be boom there it is:
Planning on kicking off Cataclysm by killing all the quest givers in newbie zones? Think again: Blizzard has increased the level of starting zone guards in areas like Coldridge Pass and Deathknell to 90. These guards are currently level 65 on the live servers.

The change, which guarantees you'll be at least five levels lower than the guards, takes advantage of existing game mechanics to protect lower-level players from mischief. NPCs that are five levels higher than you are exceedingly difficult to hit (spell casters will suffer a 39 percent chance to miss) and frequently wallop you for higher-damage-causing crushing blows far more often. The guards will also have higher health pools as well. This contrasts vividly with guards on the live server, who are prone to dying if a level 80 character accidentally sneezes on them.

Level 90 guards are better suited to protecting newbie players from max-level griefers. Note that only starting areas will see these high-level guards. The guards in major cities are now level 85 -- dangerous, but soloable.

Players who are upset by this change are encouraged to stop being jerks who grief newbies.

[chaos5061]

Raid Markers

From Wow Insider:
I decided to hop in and do some more raiding on the beta. When setting up some marks for pulls, I discovered that they're not flares anymore! I know the current raid markers appear like clouds of smoke. They were originally flares created by engineers. Some people deemed it Lucky Charms. Well, I daresay these are Lucky-er Charms! The icons will bounce up and down and the they glow! This will make positioning a little more obvious since they're so bright and hard to miss. Currently, there are only five markers available. No idea if additional symbols will be added in the future. Think five will be enough? What do you think about the new raid markers?

[chaos5061]

I moved this here because this is where it is supposed to be.

[chaos5061]

Race change available night of launch!

From wow insider:
Short and sweet here, folks: Blizzard has announced that race changes to goblins and worgen will be available immediately upon Cataclysm launch. That's 12:01 AM PST December 7th. Additionally, there will no longer be any achievements for being the first of your race to hit level 85; the achievements are now class-only.

And here is a link to the post on the new community site:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/1116854#blog

[chaos5061]

An interesting listen.

You might be interested to listen to this podcast from the 41:45 mark. It talks about DPS and how it changed for blizzard to adjust it between patches easier now:
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/11/wo...w-episode-167/
Now you can download a mp3 or the iTunes version on iTunes or you can listen directly on the page.